Julian and OPEN
Here in the middle of a crowded ballroom, it was the first that Julian had felt grounded since coming to New York that wasn't a time when he was leaning on Leo to do so. This was his element. Here he knew what he was doing. He had a purpose and while the whispers might push in upon him more with this many people around they were easier to deal with because he could focus them, use them to his advantage.
Among the Kindred of New York he could pick through the whispers and sort out those he could tell were connected to certain Kindred, root out the secrets about them that were brushing up against his mind. Some of it was useful and some of it was no better than listening to the gossip that floated around Elysium. And every now and then he may let his mental fingers slip into the minds of weaker Kindred so that he could pluck out even more secrets. Their ghouls and human thralls were even easier pickings, their minds so much easier to slip into. It was child's play almost and after a week of feeling untethered and lost, his moods and emotions a never-ending rollercoaster, it felt good to whisper back into someone else's mind and watch the unease in their eyes.
Even now, Julian couldn't help the predatory glim in his eye as he looked around the ballroom, his head tilted ever so slightly as he listened to things only he could hear, pairing what whispers he could with who they were about.
Behind you.
One whisper louder than the rest that caused him to turn around and look.